On February 4th, Mobile\u2019s game will be held at Hancock-Whitney Stadium and over a hundred of the nation\u2019s draft hopeful seniors will descend on the Gulf Coast for a week of practice in front of scouts from every NFL team before the Senior Bowl. Leading up to the game, we\u2019ll take a look at a different prospect every day and talk about their background, their college career, where they could be drafted, and how the Senior Bowl could help them. Today, we\u2019ll talk Purdue’s catching machine, Charlie Jones:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Background:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be fair to say that Charlie Jones has been around the block a little bit. He is a native of Deerfield, Illinois and attended Deerfield High School, where he earned all-conference honors as a junior and senior. As a relatively unknown 2-star recruit who 247 Composite had ranked as the 442nd receiver in the nation in the class of 2017, Jones committed to his only real Division 1 offer at Buffalo. After just one season at Buffalo where he caught 18 passes, he transferred to Iowa, but had to sit out the full 2019 season due to it being before the one-time free transfer rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n College Career<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once Jones was allowed to play for the Hawkeyes, he blossomed into one of the best return specialists in the nation. He was first-team All Big Ten in this category in 2020 as well as honorable mention All-America. He built on this in 2021, being named first-team All Big Ten by nearly every major media outlet. He also took back a kickoff for a touchdown for the first time in his career in a victory over Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For all his return prowess at Iowa, however, Jones had never caught more than 21 passes in one season. That all changed this year when Jones used his final year of eligibility as a sixth-year graduate transfer to Purdue to reunite with his childhood friend, Boilermakers QB Aidan O’Connel. Jones absolutely exploded in 2022, catching 110 passes for 1,361 yards (Purdue school record for receiving yards in a season) and 12 touchdowns as the primary target in a pass happy offense. Jones was explosive and unstoppable in 2022, even being named a semi-finalist for the Biletnikoff Award (given to the nation’s best receiver). Hawkeye fans collectively groaned all year as they wondered why he was only used as a returner in Iowa City. Check out some of the best plays from this year and his whole career:<\/p>\n\n\n\n